1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for controlling the power of a processor and a control method of the same, and in particular to an apparatus for controlling the power of a processor having a plurality of cores and a control method of the same.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, a portable computer such as a notebook computer, etc. has been widely used. The portable computer uses a battery power having a limited capacity as a system power. As shown in FIG. 1, a DC supply power converted and outputted by a DC/DC converter 10 is supplied to a core 21 through a power input unit 20 provided in a processor 200. The core 21 operates using the DC supply power.
Recently, a process having a plurality of different cores has been developed and commercially used. As shown in FIG. 2, a processor 210 having a plurality of cores includes a first core 21 and a second core 22. The first and second cores 21 and 22 are operated using the DC supply power supplied from the power input unit 20.
Since the first and second cores 21 and 22 are designed to use a lot of the power, the first and second cores 21 and 22 use a first DC/DC converter 10 and a second DC/DC converter 11. Here, the first and second DC/DC converters 10 and 11 are alternately turned on/off, so that the power corresponding to 50% of the total power consumption is stably supplied to each element in the system.
However, when one of the first core 21 and the second core 22 in the processor 210 is not used, for example, when only the first core 21 is used, since the first and second DC/DC converters 10 and 11 are alternately turned on/off, an unnecessary leakage current occurs by the second core 22 that is not currently used. Accordingly, the battery power having a limited capacity is inefficiently used.
As described above, the related art portable computers and processor have various disadvantages. For example, since the power is applied irrespective of the using state (error state, use amount, etc.) of each core and the power management mode set in the processor, leakage current occurs, and the power is inefficiently used.
The above references are incorporated by reference herein where appropriate for appropriate teachings of additional or alternative details, features and/or technical background.